Opinions to go Online

• “Mr. Minister, I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”—Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu.
• “The message (to Vladimir Putin) is that we will continue, that we will do what’s necessary to make sure that he will not get his way, that Ukraine will prevail.”—NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
• “I believe we shouldn’t be constrained by ideology and, instead, should seek practical solutions to problems.”—Vice President Kamala Harris.
• “Biden should have resigned the presidency when he suspended his campaign. It would have clarified where the buck stops, given Kamala Harris some political advantages as well as formal power, and supplied voters with more information, from a few months of her leadership, with which to make their choice for 2024.”—Ross Douthat, NYT.
• “I think (Harris) is going to win. … (But) the 2016 experience taught all of us that you can’t count this guy out.”—Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who ran for president in 2020.
• “I believe that some people are genuine in being misinformed.”—Jill Stein, on voting for Harris to stop Trump.
• “I want reasoned and stable governance, exemplified by a president whose lodestar is the well-being and security of her citizenry, not the bloodlust of his base.”—Author Susan Faludi.
• “You can’t trust him (Trump).”—Maryanne Trump Barry, Trump’s elder sister and a former federal judge.
• “That sore loser (Trump) is saying the same things he said before. He’s riling up the troops again, so if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s not inconceivable that we will experience that same (Jan. 6) situation again. … It could be worse.”—U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton (a President George W. Bush nominee).
• “We’re not in an emergency anymore—not in an inflation emergency or a labor market emergency.”—Julia Coronado, founder of MacroPolicy Perspective.
• “Populists undermine the operating environment capitalism depends on—most notably, free competition and a predictable rule of law.”—Harvard Business Review.
• “We’re going to have to make some very tough decisions about how and where we rebuild, and where we don’t.”—Nicholas Shanahan, North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies.
• “I’m not going to provide a timeline, and I’m not going to provide a timeline on when I’ll provide a timeline.”—Ben Woody, the Asheville, N.C. assistant city manager, on when residents could expect water service to be restored following Helene.
• “This (Helene-Milton) was a force of nature that we could not have ever prepared for.”—Vik Bhide, Tampa’s mobility director.
• “Every time a Republican runs against somebody Jewish, they use George Soros. He’s the boogeyman.”—Sandy Freedman, Tampa’s first Jewish mayor.

• “Every man wants to protect me. I can’t figure out from what.”—Mae West.

You’re reading this later than I had intended. It’s what happens with no internet and biblical flooding. It’s also what happens when your summer stay in Western North Carolina turns into an ironic hurricane extension of Helene that had ravaged the Tampa Bay area. It’s like fleeing Hiroshima to head for Nagasaki.

The area in and around Asheville, NC is lush, mountainous and dotted with placid, bucolic rivers and streams. It’s where Florida visitors head to enjoy the aesthetics and escape the humidity and hurricanes. But now this: Large, uprooted trees blocking streets, crushing cars and damaging homes. A devastated River Arts District. Mudslides and flooding all but wiping out small, quaint nearby towns that once looked like movie sets from bygone days. Problematic conditions for water, power and cellular service are a given. As are tanker-truck and chain-saw ambience.

President Joe Biden, Gov. Roy Cooper and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell came in for a flyover first-hand look, and the Black Hawk-helicoptered National Guard and 1,000 U.S. Army troops were on the scene to help with supplies and search and rescue. The more mountainous areas used mules. A Fire Dept. City of New York truck became a familiar sight. More than two dozen North Carolina counties were designated major disaster areas, and more than 40 died in Asheville’s Buncombe County.

The New York Times put a blindsided-Asheville photo on page one, above the fold. This was Katrina-esque sans George W. Bush and (“Heckuva Job”) Brownie. “(President Biden) understands that this is a catastrophe that far exceeds any local government, or even state government’s ability to recover from on our own,” underscored Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer.

The aforementioned is all about infrastructure and recovery and sad optics—as well as literal relief and reassurance. But there’s another kind of relief. You can call it #TogetherWNC. Or just Ashevillian folks, “weird” in so many pink-haired, tattooed, nose-ringed, artsy ways, helping each other out—including “free hugs” at the local CVS.

There were staging areas for food, water and empathy. Accompanying signage included: “You Are Loved: Glad You’re Here,” We Rise By Lifting Others” and “Unite With Love.” Not unusual to see a large apartment building at a major intersection with a prominent, ad hoc cardboard sign saying “Thank you: grocery workers, nurses, first responders & truck drivers.” A nearby restaurant was giving away free vegan food, and Sam’s Club, Fresh Market and Whole Foods were providing free meal kits. A YMCA was offering showers, the American Red Cross set up a 150-bed shelter at what used to be a Gold’s Gym and a community garden harvest was well timed. Local residents continued a tradition of putting out extra food curbside, and those with power shared a “free charge” extension cord with powerless neighbors. The Register of Deeds developed a web-based form to assist people in finding and connecting with friends and relatives. There were free stays for the displaced at Airbnbs.

Around downtown, it looked tourist-challenged as various open businesses catered to locals. A prime example: The Mellow Mushroom offered free pizza and someone waiting in line even shared free “dabs,” which are puffs of an illegal herb. Celebrity chef Jose Andres and his acclaimed World Central Kitchen opened a free food-distribution center. Nearby was one of several laundry relief zones.

None of which surprised Alice Helms, 72, who has experienced the neighborly vibe since moving here from Connecticut 19 years ago. “My feeling is that everyone is always going to help–be nice, stop and chat,” says Helms. “Now we’re turning it up a few notches. It’s an amazing, caring community. The first day, my eight neighbors knocked on my door to see what I needed. I live alone, but I’m not lonely.

“What’s really special is the camaraderie,” added Helms, a past president of her neighborhood association, a volunteer with Asheville City Schools pre-K, a quilting community member and a self-described “busybody around town.”

“I’ve had some incredible conversations with people just standing in lines,” she said. “It’s an oddly intimate thing to be talking to strangers about toilet flushing.”

That’s Asheville.

• Reflect back to the presidential debates of 2016.

Trump is still arrogant, prevaricating and unhinged. But now he’s eight years older and looks—and sounds—it. A delusional macho man vs. a deus ex machina. He is split-screen juxtaposed to Harris, someone who is younger, articulate, attractive, smart, poised and prepared. Think Hillary without emails, paid speeches to bankers, inner-party, Bernie distractions and Bill.

• As to the Walz-Vance debate, we knew what was in store early on when Walz bluntly asked Vance: “Did Trump lose the 2020 election?” Vance’s non-answer: “Tim, I’m focused on the future.” Too bad Walz didn’t pursue this line of democratic and constitutional inquiry about a future with a felon who still won’t concede the peaceful transition of power.

 

• “The schedule (of President Joe Biden) will be robust.  And he plans to leave it all on the field.”—White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt.
• Kamala Harris has called for raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.
• Team Harris-Walz raised $361 million in August—nearly triple Team Trump’s fundraising haul. Nearly 3 million donors contributed. It was the best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history.
• President Biden has called on Congress to increase funding to the Secret Service. We know what prompted that.
• A New York Times analysis shows Trump’s crowds are typically smaller than those of Harris. That—and Trump’s ego-driven fixation on HUGE rallies—are part of a “Crowd Size” ad airing nationally.
• Montana’s Democratic Sen. Jon Tester has declined to endorse Kamala Harris. That’s, alas, political reality in a hard-core red state. His senatorial opponent is a former U.S. Navy SEAL (Tim Sheehy) who has been endorsed by Trump.
• “We all saw the stark contrast (in the debate). An unhinged, wannabe autocrat and a candidate who cares about the American people and America’s role in the world.”—Anthony Scaramucci, former Trump communications director.
• No surprise that Trump GOP allies have supported ballot access for third-party spoiler candidates Jill Stein and Cornel West.
• Trump supports Mark Robinson, the sleazy and weirdly racist (“black nazi”) North Carolina Republican lieutenant governor, for governor of that key state. As a result, the Harris campaign has directly tied Trump to this down-ballot race.
• Police Leaders for Community Safety, a non-partisan organization of law enforcement leaders, has endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Hardly coincidental is a recent FBI report showing a (3%) drop in violent crime in 2023. So, no, violent crime didn’t go “through the roof,” as claimed by Trump.
• Getting-the-vote-out help: More than a dozen states could consider abortion-related amendments to their constitutions this election year.

In a previous incarnation, I was a secondary English teacher in Philadelphia. I came in right out of college at mid-year to replace a teacher who was let go because of poor discipline in her classes. So, I knew what challenges I faced in the classroom. Hell, I had been a discipline case as a student, and I knew something about handling wise guys to help facilitate learning with order, humor and empathy.

But what I didn’t realize were other aspects of being a teacher. Schools, for example, are also a unique microcosm of adult society within a juvenile context. And no place represented that better than the faculty lounge.

It was an eclectic atmosphere: a variety of disciplines, personalities, politics, jokes, ages, genders, races and Philly accents. Plus, a seniority hierarchy. And a lot of ashtrays.

There was also a sense of sanctuary—from the routine of teaching and monitoring kids all day long.

I soon learned of a popular lounge game: “Famous Books I’ve Never Read.” Mine was “The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fennimore Cooper. Boring. Thank you, again, Cliff’s Notes.

I decided to get more involved and better known by suggesting a new category: “Famous Books In My Subject Area That I Never Read.” Everybody laughed. Yes, I had been accepted.

Then I went too far. I suggested yet another category: “Famous Books I’ve Taught That I Never Read.” Nobody laughed.

 

• “Hello, this is Microsoft security. If this voice is easily understandable, you must be from Bangladesh.”
• Change how you see—not how you look.

• “Hello, Suicide Hotline. Please hold.”

• Amtrak has announced daily, direct, round-trip travel between Miami and Chicago—with a stop in Tampa. It begins Nov. 10.
• “Uhurus Guilty of Conspiracy” was the TBT headline. The bottom line: Never a good time to be a Russian ally. Another bottom line: “Useful idiots” is still a post-Soviet strategy.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Edward Glazer is a major donor to the Trump campaign.

• Ron DisAstrous wasn’t available for a presidential phone call regarding Hurricane Helene. He didn’t try to call back, let alone join the president in assessing Florida damage and federal aid. Likely reason: He knows that then-Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took some GOP backlash for meeting with President Obama to thank him for federal help after Hurricane Sandy.
• “I will be voting no (on Florida’s amendment to codify abortion access).”—Donald Trump.
• “In Florida, we’ve seen the state and the presidency decided by 537 votes, so any group can potentially sway an election or the presidency.”—Miami-based, Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi.
• No, there is no vaccine against Surgeon General Joseph La-dope-o.
• According to the Brennan Center for Justice, voter impersonation is virtually non-existent. Apparently, Florida’s “Election Police” never got the memo.
• DisAstrous’ Agency for Health Care Administration has created ads and a website to oppose (the abortion-permitting) Amendment 4. Outtake: “Florida is protecting life: Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you.”
• A new law provides for the creation of several potential new license plates—such as “Margaritaville.” But, no, “Freedumb” and “Anti-Woke” are not in the running.
• The “Swifties for Kamala” Instagram page has more than 55,000 followers.